Miranda Milan is an eccentric fortune-telling witch. She’s also Jane Harris’s only ally in trying to find out who’s trying to kill her. When you’re fourteen, having an ally in such a matter, even one as temperamental as Miranda, is a necessity. Now Miranda wants to recruit Jane’s best friend, the mentally unstable Cynthia Van Schacht. Jane has reservations, but for Miranda, “The ends justify the means” in chapter 12 of Summer of the Netherfield Witch. But whose ends? Jane’s . . . or Miranda’s?

This painting EXACTLY captures the spirit of this chapter . . . except that we don’t know if the killer is a guy, Miranda is hardly a love goddess, and Jane isn’t quite the tramp Helen of Troy was. But apart from that, it’s exactly right.(“Venus Preventing Aeneas From Killing Helen” by Luca Ferrari (1605-1654))